How to Deploy a Wire with a Robotic Platform: Learning from Human Visual Demonstrations

In this paper, we address the problem of deploying a wire along a specific path selected by an unskilled user. The robot has to learn the selected path and pass a wire through the peg table by using the same tool. The main contribution regards the hybrid use of Cartesian positions provided by a learning procedure and joint positions obtained by inverse kinematics and motion planning. Some constraints are introduced to deal with non-rigid material without breaks or knots. We took into account a series of metrics to evaluate the robot learning capabilities, all of them over performed the targets

A Unified Dissertation on Bearing Rigidity Theory

This work focuses on the bearing rigidity theory, namely the branch of knowledge investigating the structural properties necessary for multi-element systems to preserve the inter-units bearings when exposed to deformations. The original contributions are twofold. The first one consists in the definition of a general framework for the statement of the principal definitions and results that are then particularized by evaluating the most studied metric spaces, providing a complete overview of the existing literature about the bearing rigidity theory. The second one rests on the determination of a necessary and sufficient condition guaranteeing the rigidity properties of a given multi-element system, independently of its metric space

The economic consequences of organized crime: are negative externalities produced by criminal companies mitigated by the presence of industrial districts?

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Non-Equilibrium Living Polymers

Systems of "living" polymers are ubiquitous in industry and are traditionally realised using surfactants. Here I review the state-of-the-art of living polymers and discuss non-equilibrium extensions that may be realised with advanced synthetic chemistry or DNA functionalised by proteins. These systems are not only interesting in order to realise novel "living" soft matter but can also shed insight into how genomes are (topologically) regulated in vivo.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Teaching humanoid robotics by means of human teleoperation through RGB-D sensors

This paper presents a graduate course project on humanoid robotics offered by the University of Padova. The target is to safely lift an object by teleoperating a small humanoid. Students have to map human limbs into robot joints, guarantee the robot stability during the motion, and teleoperate the robot to perform the correct movement. We introduce the following innovative aspects with respect to classical robotic classes: i) the use of humanoid robots as teaching tools; ii) the simplification of the stable locomotion problem by exploiting the potential of teleoperation; iii) the adoption of a Project-Based Learning constructivist approach as teaching methodology. The learning objectives of both course and project are introduced and compared with the students\u2019 background. Design and constraints students have to deal with are reported, together with the amount of time they and their instructors dedicated to solve tasks. A set of evaluation results are provided in order to validate the authors\u2019 purpose, including the students\u2019 personal feedback. A discussion about possible future improvements is reported, hoping to encourage further spread of educational robotics in schools at all levels

Fast human motion prediction for human-robot collaboration with wearable interfaces

In this paper, we aim at improving human motion prediction during human-robot collaboration in industrial facilities by exploiting contributions from both physical and physiological signals. Improved human-machine collaboration could prove useful in several areas, while it is crucial for interacting robots to understand human movement as soon as possible to avoid accidents and injuries. In this perspective, we propose a novel human-robot interface capable to anticipate the user intention while performing reaching movements on a working bench in order to plan the action of a collaborative robot. The proposed interface can find many applications in the Industry 4.0 framework, where autonomous and collaborative robots will be an essential part of innovative facilities. A motion intention prediction and a motion direction prediction levels have been developed to improve detection speed and accuracy. A Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) has been trained with IMU and EMG data following an evidence accumulation approach to predict reaching direction. Novel dynamic stopping criteria have been proposed to flexibly adjust the trade-off between early anticipation and accuracy according to the application. The output of the two predictors has been used as external inputs to a Finite State Machine (FSM) to control the behaviour of a physical robot according to user's action or inaction. Results show that our system outperforms previous methods, achieving a real-time classification accuracy of $94.3\pm2.9\%$ after $160.0msec\pm80.0msec$ from movement onset

A “Flood” of Migrants? How Climate Change Will Affect Migrations from the Global South: A Study of the Sahel Region in Africa and the Wider Caribbean Region in Latin America

openI cambiamenti climatici rappresentano uno dei problemi più urgenti e spaventosi che la nostra società moderna dovrà affrontare nel XXI secolo. L’umanità, direttamente o indirettamente, ha contribuito all’inasprimento delle condizioni climatiche del nostro pianeta per almeno un secolo, provocando diverse conseguenze per le varie popolazioni ed ecosistemi nel mondo. Tuttavia, le nazioni che hanno contribuito di meno al peggioramento delle condizioni climatiche del pianeta saranno coloro che dovranno pagare il prezzo più alto – sul piano economico, ambientale e sociale. Inoltre, considerando che i cambiamenti climatici influenzeranno notevolmente le fonti di sostentamento di diverse popolazioni, le ripercussioni si rifletteranno indubbiamente anche sui flussi migratori provenienti da questi paesi. Ancora tanta confusione caratterizza il quadro politico internazionale riguardante questi temi, il quale non è ancora pronto a tutelare queste persone e affrontare specifiche problematiche. Proprio per questo motivo è necessario un maggiore e più forte impegno da parte di istituzioni e organizzazioni nazionali e regionali, così come di organizzazioni internazionali, il mondo accademico e la società civile, in modo da provvedere a trovare possibili soluzioni per salvaguardare queste persone a livello locale, nazionale ed internazionale. Due esempi - la regione del Sahel in Africa e i Caraibi in America Latina - sono analizzati per fare maggiore chiarezza riguardo i cambiamenti climatici, le migrazioni e la relazione tra questi due fenomeni. In aggiunta, diverse strategie di adattamento in situ sono state introdotte in modo da analizzare possibili soluzioni mirate a contrastare i cambiamenti climatici e rallentare il fenomeno delle migrazioni da questi territori.Climate change represents one of the most pressing and daunting problems our modern society will have to face in the XXI century. Humankind have been contributing, directly or indirectly, to the exacerbation of the planet’s climatic conditions for at least one century, creating dangerous implications for local ecosystems and populations around the globe. Countries that contributed the least to the exacerbation of the earth’s climate will represent those actors compelled to pay the highest price – in social, environmental and economic terms. Moreover, considering that climate change will extremely affect people’s livelihoods in developing countries, repercussions will be also reflected on future migration flows coming from these areas. Yet, confusion characterises the international policy framework on this topic, which is still not ready to protect environmental migrants (or refugees) and address certain problematics. In order to find feasible solutions for the safety of these people at the local, regional and global levels, further serious commitment must be undertaken by all the stakeholders involved: international organisations, national and regional authorities, as well as the academic world and the civil society. Two examples - the Sahel region in Africa and the Wider Caribbean region in Latin America - are analysed in this thesis in order to provide a better understanding of the issues of climate change, migrations and the relationship between the two phenomena. In addition, different adaptation strategies carried out in situ are also introduced to analyse possible solutions aimed at tacking climate change and halting migration flows from these territories